Baltimore Catechism No. 3 (of 4) eBook

Q. 753. {195} What is contrition, or sorrow for sin?
A. Contrition, or sorrow for sin, is a hatred of sin
and a true grief of the soul for having offended God,
with a firm purpose of sinning no more.

Q. 754. Give an example of how we should hate
and avoid sin. A. We should hate and avoid sin
as one hates and avoids a poison that almost caused
his death. We may not grieve over the death of
our soul as we do over the death of a friend, and
yet our sorrow may be true; because the sorrow for
sin comes more from our reason than from our feelings.

Q. 755. {196} What kind of sorrow should we have for
our sins? A. The sorrow we should have for our
sins should be interior, supernatural, universal,
and sovereign.

Q. 756. {197} What do you mean by saying that our
sorrow should be interior? A. When I say that
our sorrow should be interior, I mean that it should
come from the heart, and not merely from the lips.

Q. 757. {198} What do you mean by saying that our
sorrow should be supernatural? A. When I say
that our sorrow should be supernatural, I mean that
it should be prompted by the grace of God, and excited
by motives which spring from faith, and not by merely
natural motives.

Q. 758. What do we mean by “motives that
spring from faith” and by “merely natural
motives” with regard to sorrow for sin?
A. By sorrow for sin from “motives that spring
from faith,” we mean sorrow for reasons that
God has made known to us, such as the loss of heaven,
the fear of hell or purgatory, or the dread of afflictions
that come from God in punishment for sin. By
“merely natural motives” we mean sorrow
for reasons made known to us by our own experience
or by the experience of others, such as loss of character,
goods or health. A motive is whatever moves our
will to do or avoid anything.

Q. 759. {199} What do you mean by saying that our
sorrow should be universal? A. When I say that
our sorrow should be universal, I mean that we should
be sorry for all our mortal sins without exception.

Q. 760. Why cannot some of our mortal sins be
forgiven while the rest remain on our souls?
A. It is impossible for any of our mortal sins to be
forgiven unless they are all forgiven, because as
light and darkness cannot be together in the same
place, so sanctifying grace and mortal sin cannot dwell
together. If there be grace in the soul, there
can be no mortal sin, and if there be mortal sin,
there can be no grace, for one mortal sin expels all
grace.

Q. 761. {200} What do you mean when you say that our
sorrow should be sovereign? A. When I say that
our sorrow should be sovereign, I mean that we should
grieve more for having offended God than for any other
evil that can befall us.

Q. 762. {201} Why should we be sorry for our sins?
A. We should be sorry for our sins because sin is the
greatest of evils and an offense against God our Creator,
Preserver, and Redeemer, and because it shuts us out
of heaven and condemns us to the eternal pains of
hell.